Friday, December 3, 2010

Today's Friday Fragments (graciously hosted by Mrs. 4444s) are brought to you from the retail mecca that is Strongsville, Ohio. That can only mean one thing. It's time for the annual shopping tripwith my mom, my Aunt Susie and my PaPa. We're a small group this year. Only 4 of us -- and my Uncle Howie, who uncharacteristically stuck around the the mall with us through both JC Penney's and Sears, though he did have a few things to say when my mom went back to the children's department at Penney's for the third time. I'll have more to say about the trip later, but you can read some of the updates about the trip on the 4th Frog Facebook page.

Do you have a Christmas Fairy? I do -- and it's wonderful! When I came home from working a shift at a friend's store last Sunday, Annie was out in the front yard putting lights in the bushes. I went inside to find that she had hauled the Christmas tree (sadly artificial because Charlie is allergic to pretty much every tree on earth) and put it up in the family room. Mike and I had tickets to the Colts game (thanks Mark & Shannon!) and when we returned, the tree was decorated, the stockings were hung, and the nativities were in place. Thank you Christmas Fairy!

I told the kids after church last week to pick a couple of tags off the Giving Tree. Charlie, bless his heart, picked the tag of an 11-year-old boy. I was happy to see that he had chosen someone like himself (at least in gender and age). Then I looked at the wish. VIDEO GAME. Crud. That's all it said. No system identified, such as Wii or Playstation, though the odds are that this child doesn't have either, and I can't buy them one. I considered one of those plug and play games, but that assumes there is a compatible TV in house and I'm not sure that's a safe assumption. So Charlie and I went to look at some of the inexpensive handheld games at Target. Unfortunately, most of those were casino or poker themed. "Here little boy, let me help you start a gambling habit..." So I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I can't afford to go buy this kid a DS, but I also don't want him to be disappointed. I considered re-hanging the tag on the tree, but it's a little late now. I'm sure I'll figure something out, but I am open to suggestions.

The boys are going to be in the Christmas pageant at church this year. Robbie wants to be the baby Jesus. This could be interesting...

Since my insomnia has worn off, I'm headed back to bed -- click here for a post I recently wrote for Fit City on the importance of sleep. In the meantime, 'tis the season for festive fragments. Find more here. Then check out other great finds at Design it Chic for Boost My Blog Friday:

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comments:

If I was faced with the "Video Game" tag dilemma I'd get a gift voucher from JBHiFi and let him choose how to spend the money himself. My mum has been involved in organising Christmas gifts for disadvantaged teens for a few years now and iTunes and JBHiFi gift cards are on the top of their wish lists.

Mim has a good idea. Is there a Game Stop or Electronics Boutique near you? You cold get a gift card and maybe something small so the kid has something to open. Add a note that you didn't know what game system he had.

I'd like for your Christmas fairy to visit my kitchen, please! :) I have to add that one of the angel tags at our church actually had "Wii Game" written on it, so assuming that these families don't have systems could get us all in trouble. Although I have to say I had a heavy hand in helping pick the angels we'd buy for this year...I'm guessing they have a TV, too.